Tips & Tricks

January 14, 2007

Virtual TimeClock Tips & Tricks - January 2007

Did you ever want to be a Private Investigator? There’s something exciting about discovering clues, finding the next piece to the puzzle, and following the trail to figure out ‘Who Dunnit’. We are constantly leaving trails by the contribution receipt for the sack of clothes donated to the local charity, the restaurant ticket after a meal, and the email after ordering new exercise equipment online. Auditing these trails tell investigators who we are, what we’ve done, and when we did it. Kind of scary when you think about it! It’s like leaving your footprints in the snow. Although in many parts of the country, those footprints aren’t lasting long right now as the tirades of Winter storms continue.

Virtual TimeClock Pro version 5.4 introduces amazing new program auditing functions that are easily accessible from within the program. In this month’s ‘Tips & Tricks’ Newsletter, I’d like to introduce you to these powerful new logging features. If you’re using a Virtual TimeClock server, local TimeClock actions and events are logged on your client computer, while timecard data modifications are recorded and available in the logs on the server TimeClock. To view your logs, select Program Logs from the Window menu within Virtual TimeClock Pro 5.4. In the Program Logs window, you’ll discover four log folders:

Audit Logs Have you ever had the feeling that someone was watching you? Only when I’m doing something I shouldn’t be doing! Virtual TimeClock Pro now answers the who, what, and when questions of timecard modifications. It will also record new manual timecard entries, when security is disabled/enabled, when payroll periods are closed, and when a batch delete of timecard data is performed. For some tips on getting the most out of your Virtual TimeClock audit logs, take a look at the article at Auditing Timecards.

Backup Logs We introduced a great new backup and restore utility in Virtual TimeClock Pro 5.3 that allows you to easily and quickly perform manual and schedule data backups. The new backup logs in version 5.4 give you a full accounting of attempted and successful backups. Don’t let a disaster catch you unprepared. Make sure your Virtual TimeClock Pro data is being backed up by reviewing the new backup logs in version 5.4.

Error Logs A problem with the Virtual TimeClock Pro program is often related to some other event like a hardware crash, an automatic operating system update, or the installation of antivirus software. The error logs may help in determining the events surrounding an unexpected program termination or other uncharacteristic program behavior.

Information Logs The information log may contain messages you see in alert dialogs, information dialogs, and many other messages that are never displayed to the end user. Not as glamorous as some of the other logs, but they sure are useful when reconstructing errors or other program events.

So whether you want to see who modified a timecard entry or make sure your last backup was successful, the all new Virtual TimeClock Pro program logs will put the information right at your fingertips. I’d love to hear what you think of the new auditing feature, so drop us an email once you find how easy it is to figure out ‘Who Dunnit’!